The Kansas City Royals have won back-to-back games and are now within just one game of the third and final American League Wild Card spot. The Seattle Mariners currently hold that spot, but have lost four consecutive games and have let the Royals and Texas Rangers back into the mix. Still, the Royals have cooled off since the month of August came to an end.
The Royals have been held back all season long by their offense, and their starting rotation recently took a big hit when right-hander Seth Lugo went on the injured list with a lower back strain.
Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report recently did a vibe check for all postseason hopefuls with three weeks left in the 2025 regular season, and he declared that the Royals are a fading team.
“The Royals did catch fire for a little while, winning 13 out of 19 from late July into mid-August, clawing back to within reasonable striking distance of the Boston/New York/Seattle trio of wild card hopefuls. But after what was an unusual stretch of offensive competence for this club, they’ve regressed to a low-scoring mess, managing three or fewer runs in eight of their last 14 games,” Miller wrote.
“The Royals certainly aren’t toast. But what was a 1-in-3 chance two weeks ago has turned into more like 1-in-10 odds, now one of five teams battling for that final spot in the AL half of the bracket.”
The Royals have a very important series with the Mariners coming from September 16-18. They’ll host that series at Kauffman Stadium, and that may represent their best chance to get back into playoff position and return to the postseason for the second straight year.
But they haven’t exactly seized their opportunity to steal the final spot from the Mariners. At just one game back, their chances have seemingly increased, but it’s far from a guarantee that they will make it, especially after cooling off to start the month of September.
The Royals need their offense to wake up if they want to return to the playoffs. If they can return to their midsummer form, they’ll have a chance to steal the final spot from Seattle. It will certainly be interesting to see how the upcoming series plays out for Kansas City.
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